Hi friends~ I’m so happy to introduce you to my friend “Arabah Joy“ and a blog series we will be writing together. Arabah Joy is a precious sister and IRL (in real life) friend who lives on the other side of the world. She, her husband, and their four children are obediently serving our Father in the place He has sent them. It’s incredible to me that we can be on opposite sides of the Earth and still collaborate on a blog series! Yay!
The posting below is from Arabah. Both of us are praying for you, asking the Lord to use our finite words to speak to you in the way that you can hear from Him.
A few months ago, I received a letter in the mail.
I opened the envelope and there with the note were two gift cards to Walmart. The letter was from Jennifer and she wrote to tell me that someone asked her to pass one of the gift cards on to me. Then she said, “The other card was given to me, but the Lord told me it belonged to you too.”
I showed the note to my husband and we did a Thank You Jesus dance in the living room because:
1. we needed groceries and
2. we knew God was telling us that He saw and He knew and He would never, ever forsake us.
Jennifer was an instrument of God that day. She could have kept the cards and I never would have known the difference. But because she (and the generous woman who gave the cards) listened and obeyed, the Holy Spirit communicated great peace to our hearts. We saw how God was moving in other hearts on our behalf and we once again, knew that we can trust that kind of God.
Make no mistake about it, the woman who hears God’s voice and promptly responds is a woman who touches and changes lives.
The question is, do you want to be that kind of woman?
For me, there is no better or more fulfilling way to live. I also know Jennifer to be a woman who listens to the Spirit all day long. She relies on Him for her hair. Her wardrobe. Her ministry. Even her marriage bed! She knows what it’s like to commit her day to Him and let Him bring His life in her to fruition.
After spending some time with Jennifer, I saw her intimacy with the Lord as something others could greatly benefit from…so I asked her to prayerfully consider doing a blog series with me on discerning God’s voice and walking according to the Spirit. She said yes!
So Every Tuesday over the next few weeks, we will discuss topics such as how to know it is God speaking, how to hear God through the Word, how to hear Him in the daily mundane, what God expects of us after hearing, and what it all looks like in an everyday life. We will share personal stories and whatever else the Lord lays on our hearts!
Let me give you a little meat to chew on regarding the upcoming series. In John 10, Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd who “calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” Jesus used this figure of speech to show us the nature of God and what to expect from His leadership style.
~~ The Good Shepherd “goes out in front, calls His own, and leads them out.”
~~ His sheep “Hear His voice and follow Him.”
The Good Shepherd does not drive his flock from behind or use force. He leads from the front and uses His voice.
This is a simple concept but a very important one to understand and apply in our daily lives. God leads us with His voice and furthermore, speaks to each and every one of us individually~ by name. That means that if you are a believer in Christ, Beth Moore doesn’t have anything you don’t have. Likewise, you have the same ability to hear God as John Piper.
Think about it for a moment…
What would your day look like if, all throughout the day, you recognized God speaking and promptly followed His leading?
I imagine it would look pretty exciting!
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21
All over the scriptures we see God communicating to us with His voice. Our goal with this series is to train our spiritual sense of hearing to discern God’s voice in our messy, mundane, everyday lives. We look forward to hearing from God during this series and invite you to join in. Check out John 10 this week and we’ll see you next Tuesday!
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